Carey said:

> Media today carrying "news" that "bogus/fake/reworked/defective" chips fr=
om
> the far east are getting into USA military equipment endangering troops,
> etc. =A0Not surprising but disappointing. =A0What are the legions of gove=
rnment
> QA inspectors that stop production at the tiniest (sometimes imagined)
> infraction doing?
>
> Carey Fisher


The number 1 rule I've learned from doing things in "the Far East".

          You have to be there!

You MUST have a competent nominee "on the ground" who has your and
only your interests at heart and who is authorised to act on your
behalf.

With respect to ICs this means at a minimum that you need traceability
up a supply chain OR deal with people out of country who take this
rule seriously. eg if you buy from Digikey you expect them to be
serious enough that they have buyers in country who do random factory
visits and inspections and who know what they are looking for.

And even at that level it only just might work as there is enough
indirection and wriggle room.

If you were eg getting people to make volume quantities of products
for you and ship them directly to a customer you need at very very
very least a competent inspection service you can trust or, really,
your woman/man on site. Anything less than this produces certain
results.(The nominee can be a national of the country concerned - but
they MUST be YOUR person in heart and mind.)



            Russell McMahon

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